Coastal Restoration Trust of New Zealand

Coastal Dune Ecosystem Reference Database

Sediment loads of North Island rivers, New Zealand - a reconnaissance. Technical Report

Author
Adams, J.
Year
1979
Journal / Source
New Zealand Journal of Hydrology
Volume
13
Pages
36-48
Keywords
Sedimentation, catchments, rivers, Tauera, Whangaehu, Ruamahanga, Hutt, Otaki, erosion
Summary
Suspended load, dissolved load, and bedload (for 23 catchments only) are calculated by approximate methods for 40 rivers in the North Island. The proportion of each type of load is roughly 88%, 10%, and 2% but the dissolved load is relatively more important in rivers draining catchments with slight erosion and the bedload more important in rivers draining directly from the eastern mountain ranges. The river catchments, mostly 150 to 1500 km2 in area, have suspended sediment yields ranging from 35 t/km2.yr to 28 000 t/km2.yr with the highest yields being from catchments in the East Cape region.